The communists said they hoped for that, too. And part of their vision—rooted in the atheistic ethos of communism—was to “re-educate” all religious citizens in antireligious campaigns.

It’s why they pull a pregnant Neng from her teaching job for questioning. She’s married a man from the British colony of Hong Kong, and her parents sent her to Christian schools for education, so they’re concerned about her commitment to Mao’s vision for China.

Neng adamantly tells them that, though she may have gotten swept up in a Christian bandwagon when she was younger, she grew out of her beliefs as she got older.

But as she thinks about those beliefs she had had as a child, Neng begins to realize that, though distant, perhaps she still does believe in the Christian God.

“Are you a Christian?” A government official demands.

Slowly, the thoughts in her head racing, Neng opens her mouth to respond.

The post China Cry: A True Story appeared first on Plugged In.

He’s a hooded dude who’s been stalking loving couples on Valentine’s Day for the last few years. Then he butchers them (mid-hug, kiss or proposal) in the most brutally “romantic” ways: He might carve out their loving hearts with a machete. Or pin the lovebirds together with a razor-sharp cupid’s arrow. Or some other bloody atrocity.

That’s terrible and all. But frankly, Ally couldn’t care less.

While others are quivering on this hearts-and-flowers holiday, Ally has no fear of the killer in the least. You see, she just broke up with her ex-boyfriend. Then that louse instantly ran out and found someone else he could cuddle up with and plastered it all over his social media for crying out loud!

So, let’s just say that Ally is currently as stone-cold averse to all things lovey-dovey as she can be. If anything, she’s kinda thinking about the benefits of putting on a mask with cartoon hearts for eyes and doing a little beat-down on a few people herself.

Oh, and to top all that off, she just met this walking embodiment of a Hallmark card named Jay. He was brought in by her boss to prop up a failing advertising campaign that Ally had come up with. (Which kinda ticked Ally off, truth be told.)

Anyway, this guy just oozes “handsome” and “romantically sincere.” In fact, everything about Jay seems completely geared for some meet-cute rom-com scene. (Which makes Ally all the more angry.) And while she’s more than happy to turn her back on this gorgeous-looking lug, she has to meet him for a meal and discussions about the campaign. Argh!

But here’s the real issue.

From the outside-looking-in, the very pretty Ally and the strikingly handsome Jay make for a really adorbs couple. If you were an insane killer out scoping out a Valentine’s Day symbol to slaughter, this gorgeous couple might seem to be wearing the perfect heart-shaped bulls-eye.

Yup, I think it’s safe to say that Ally is having … a really bad Valentine’s Day!

The post Heart Eyes appeared first on Plugged In.

Not that Marvin is a cutthroat type of guy. Not in real estate, anyway. He smiles a lot. He bakes cookies for open-house events to give those showings that nice, warm scent of home. Marvin just wants to match his wonderful clients up with wonderful houses. Nothing wrong with making people’s dreams of home-ownership come true, right?

He’s one of the most successful real estate agents in Milwaukee—proof, it would seem, that nice guys can finish first. Sure, he’s not thrilled that someone’s drawing mustaches on all of his bench ads. But what is he gonna do—track down and kill the vandal?

Well, once upon a time, maybe he would have. But Marvin’s different now. The only killing he makes these days is through his very reasonable commissions.

But then a former colleague of his shows up, announcing his presence with a fist to the face. When Marvin comes to, he finds himself at his desk—one hand tied to his chair and the other harpooned to the desktop with a sharp, wide knife.

Seems his old life has returned. And it’s not at all happy.

Apparently, back when Marvin was mainly killing people for a living, his last hit was a purposeful miss. Knuckles, his boss and brother, told Marvin to kill a woman named Rose (Knuckle’s top lieutenant) for stealing from him. But Marvin secretly loved Rose, so he let her go.

But now, it seems, Rose is back. And she’s sending Valentine’s missives to all of her old pals.

And what unwelcome Valentines’ they are. Knuckles is none-too-pleased that Rose is alive. Merlo, Knuckles’ new top lieutenant, really doesn’t want Rose to start blabbing about who really stole Knuckles’ money.

And Marvin? He had hoped that Rose would stay hidden, that both of them could’ve started new lives free of crime and murder. Marvin had escaped: Why couldn’t she?

Plus, he’s got houses to show. Contracts to sign. And it’s awfully hard to do that when your hand is pinned to a desk with a giant Bowie knife.

Seems like Marvin will need to revert to his old self for a little bit—just until he can dislodge the knife and deal with The Raven.

Yeah, the real estate business can be cutthroat, all right—but nothing like Marvin’s old gig. And he’ll be giving a few folks a nice education in morgue-age rates before he’s done.

The post Love Hurts appeared first on Plugged In.

But sometimes, “happily ever after” is less permanent than you’d expect. Bridget knows that all too well.

Mark, you see, has died. Killed during a humanitarian mission to the Sudan. And that left Bridget a grieving widow with two young children. It’s been four years since his death, and Bridget is still picking up the pieces. Her family and friends tell her that she needs to get back out on the dating scene, that meeting someone new will help her move on from her grief.

But Mark was the love of Bridget’s life. The father of her children. She’s not sure she wants to move on.

“Can you survive?” Bridget’s father had asked her after Mark had passed. When she tells him that, yes, she’ll survive, he says, “It’s not enough to survive, you’ve got to live.”

All right, fine. Bridget will do a little living. She dusts off that old, familiar diary. She returns to her job as a television producer. And she even meets a potential new beau, Roxster, a garbologist who is very much her junior.

The post Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy appeared first on Plugged In.

The retired Marine sniper has no connections, no relationships. No one will miss him if he “vanishes” for a year to monitor a secret so big that not even the president knows about it.

And what is that secret?

Well, no one really knows. But the monitoring station there is made entirely of concrete. And the cliffside is covered in suspended mines, automatic sentries and “cloakers” that prevent satellites from finding the location. And deep in the fog below, Levi can hear unworldly screeches. The soldier whom Levi is set to relieve from the duty, J.D., tells him the task: to restock the mines and ammo every day, and prevent whatever creatures make those sounds from getting out.

With that simple task explained, J.D. leaves Levi to his own devices.

Except, he’s not fully alone. Because across the gorge, there’s another tower like his own, similarly equipped with sentries, mines and a lone guardsman. And despite being told not to communicate, it’s not long before the two sentries start talking.

Her name is Drasa. She’s from Lithuania. And she, like him, is an expert killer.

Despite being separated by a gorge full of ominous fog and screeching unknowns, she makes Levi feel a little less alone in the world.

Especially when she warns him that something is crawling up his tower.

The post The Gorge appeared first on Plugged In.

But as odd as that experience was, it solidified their bond. Both girls had lost their mothers at a young age. So, as Lainy told Kate, they would need to be there for each other when they decided to have children for real.

Lainy just wasn’t expecting Kate to get pregnant first.

Lainy is happy for Kate, truly. But Kate wasn’t even sure if she wanted to be a mom. Plus, now Kate is bonding with their extravagant coworker—fellow mom-to-be and social media influencer wannabe, Shirley—over their pregnancies, an experience Lainy had always hoped to share with Kate herself.

Envious of her friend and just about every other pregnant woman out there, Lainy then does something rather odd—odder, even, than simulating labor with dolls. Lainy straps on a false baby bump and starts telling people she’s pregnant.

It’s pretty glorious for a while: Strangers congratulate her; people give up their seats on the subway; folks step out of her way on the street. Then Lainy attends a prenatal yoga class and bonds with an actual expecting mother, Megan.

The two women commiserate over pregnancy woes and quickly become friends. In fact, Lainy even starts dating Megan’s brother, Josh.

But pretty soon, the truth gets harder and harder to hide. For starters, Megan runs in some of the same circles as Kate and Shirley, who know nothing of Lainy’s charade. But what’s more is that sooner or later, Lainy’s going to need to give birth.

And I’m pretty sure Megan and Josh won’t be fooled by a babydoll.

The post Kinda Pregnant appeared first on Plugged In.

And what would make Jenni happy is to get married at the Palmetto House, a quaint inn on a private island where her parents got married.

Jim isn’t going to let Jenni down. He makes the call and books the whole island for June 1.

But he’s not the only one making a call to the island …

Margot doesn’t like her family, and they don’t like her—except for her baby sister, Neve, that is. Ever since they were little girls, Margot and Neve have had each other’s backs. And Neve acts as a sort of peacemaker between Margot and the rest of the fam.

So when Neve says she wants to get married at the Palmetto House, the place she and Margot spent countless summers with their beloved grandmother, Margot is on it. She makes the call and books the whole island for June 1.

Wait, that can’t be right, can it?

Unfortunately, due to the untimely death of the innkeeper, there was a bit of a clerical error, and the Palmetto House is double booked. The mistake might have been remedied sooner, but Jenni asked her sorority sister, a notorious party girl with an inhibiting fear of phone calls, to plan the wedding, and the young woman never thought to confirm the reservation.

No worries, Jim is there to save his little girl’s big day. It takes a little negotiating—not to mention a lot of emotional manipulation—but eventually, Margot agrees to share the venue with Jim.

You’re cordially invited to the wedding of Jenni and Oliver. You’re also cordially invited to the wedding of Neve and Dixon.

The post You’re Cordially Invited appeared first on Plugged In.

From her fellow townspeople’s point of view, however, there is one little problem: She’s just not like them. She reads books. And she dreams of adventure and true love. What a peculiar young thing.

Of course that doesn’t stop the lantern-jawed Gaston from wanting her as his wife. She’s the prettiest girl in town, after all, which makes her the best. And doesn’t he deserve the best?! He’s certain he’ll cure her of all that silly reading and dreaming once they tie the knot.

Belle isn’t interested. She’d rather wait for the future while taking care of her forgetful but loving papa. He’s such a dear old fellow, and an inventor, too. Someday his wonderfully quirky inventions will make him famous, she’s sure of it.

So when Papa gets lost on his way to the city, and his horse returns without him, Belle is instantly concerned. And she rides out to search for him, his faithful horse taking her to the gates of a gloomy old castle. Inside, she finds her father, locked away in a dungeon cell.

“Go away, Belle!” he cries. “Save yourself.” But it’s too late. The surly owner of this enchanted castle has heard the commotion and storms into the shadow-cloaked room. With bared teeth and an angry roar, he makes the facts clear: Papa trespassed and a price must be paid. If Belle wants to take his place, so be it. But someone will be the lifelong prisoner of … the Beast!

The post Beauty and the Beast (1991) appeared first on Plugged In.

Yep. Speed is the name of the game in Top Gun, an adrenaline-fueled cinematic salute to all things fast—fast motorcycles, fast planes and fast women. In the middle of all that fastness is Lt. Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, a hotshot pilot with a renegade tendency for doing everything on his own terms and treating rules like timid suggestions.

It’s a combination that earns his commanding officers’ ire … and respect. After Maverick shows up some Russian MiG-28s over the Indian Ocean, he’s rewarded with a spot at Top Gun, the Navy’s elite school for its fighter pilots at Miramar Naval Air Station near San Diego.

Top Gun is a program designed to make the best of the best even better. Maverick arguably doesn’t need much boost in the skills department. And he knows it. But his lone-wolf attitude and refusal to submit to authority increasingly cause his peers (Lt. Tom “Iceman” Kazansky at the top of the list) and his superiors (Cmdr. Mike “Viper” Metcalf and Lt. Cmdr. Rick “Jester” Heatherly) to wonder if he’s more of a liability than an ace asset.

Meanwhile, civilian aeronautics expert and Top Gun trainer Charlotte Blackwood, who goes by Charlie, seems immune to Maverick’s bad boy charm … until she learns that he’s the one who managed to snap a picture of himself flying another kind of bird in close, inverted proximity to a rare Russian MiG.

As their romance heats up, so does Maverick’s insistence on doing things his way. Then a training accident sends his F-14 through the jet wash of his wingman, and not even Maverick’s vaunted skills can save the plane, which hurtles out to sea in a dreaded flat spin. He ejects safely, but his radar intercept officer and best friend Lt. j.g. Nick “Goose” Bradshaw is killed.

Rattled to the core, Maverick finds himself facing a crisis of confidence about his calling as a fighter pilot. And when the pesky Russians come calling again, he’s forced to face his inner demons once and for all in a high-stakes, high-speed aerial showdown.

The post Top Gun appeared first on Plugged In.

She’s a stripper. And her side hustle is, ahem, escorting. She’s not exactly unhappy, but she’s certainly not living her best life either.

Then she meets Ivan.

Ivan is young, rich and willing to pay Ani’s “holiday” fees for her services. He’s also in need of a Green Card so that he won’t have to return to Russia to work for his father. But to all appearances, he does seem to be in love with Ani.

So, Ivan proposes to Ani. She accepts, and they’re soon married in Las Vegas.

Ani quits her job upon returning home. Ivan buys her a big ring. And they pretty much continue partying it up, only now as husband and wife.

But then Ivan’s family finds out. They’re none too pleased that he’s disgraced their family by marrying a prostitute. And they want the pair to have their marriage annulled.

Well, Ani isn’t willing to stand for that. And she’s pretty sure Ivan won’t either—or at least she hopes he won’t. But when Ivan’s parents send their goons (Toros, Garnick and Igor) to enforce the proceedings, Ivan runs off without her.

Ani thought Ivan loved her. Actually, she’s convinced he does but that he’s just scared of his family. But if somebody loves you, does he abandon you to three strangers forcing you to get a divorce, dodge your calls and go on a bender?

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